Crack open a fine dram of Christmas spirit

Drinks by the Dram’s range of Christmas crackers and advent calendars have returned for Christmas 2016 with some exciting new spirit additions.

Four sets of crackers are available - a whisky and a premium whisky set, a gin set and a spirit and liqueur set - with the contents of each set revised since last year

Introduced in 2014, each box holds six crackers, each containing a different 3cl dram along with the traditional paper crown and naff joke.

Whisky fans can enjoy Christmas lunch with the Whisky Christmas Crackers (RRP £44.95), containing drams of whisky from top distilleries like Glenfarclas, Glengoyne and Kilchoman. The Premium Whisky Christmas Crackers (RRP £69.95) are filled with altogether more exclusive expressions, including the Lost Distilleries Blend, named the World’s Best Blended Whisky*.

The Gin Christmas Crackers (RRP £39.95) contain six different craft gins, including 1897 Quinine Gin and the multi-award-winning Bathtub Gin, while the Spirit & Liqueur Christmas Crackers (RRP £39.95) feature some delicious festive treats, from Ableforth’s Cherry Brandy and Rumbullion! to FEW Bourbon and an independently bottled single grain Scotch from That Boutique-y Whisky Company.

For the fifth year running, the range of Drinks by the Dram Advent Calendars has returned. The selection once again features classics like Whisky, Ginvent and Rum, while new additions include calendars dedicated to Scotch, American, Irish and Japanese whiskies along with calendars full of Glenfarclas single malt, independent whisky bottlings from That Boutique-y Whisky Company and Origin Single Estate Gins made with juniper sourced from specific regions all around the world.

The Whisky Advent Calendar was launched in 2012, and has since become a tradition among whisky enthusiasts, letting them count down to Christmas and explore the world’s best whiskies. Each handmade, wax-sealed dram allows whisky fans to sample a new expression, tasting everything from single grain and bourbon to rare Scotch worth up to £600 a bottle.

2016 marks the debut of the Drinks by the Dram Very Old & Rare Whisky Advent Calendar, pictured below (RRP £9,999.95), developing on the concept introduced by the Old & Rare Advent Calendar launched in 2015. Each calendar is a bespoke wooden box built by hand by cabinet-maker Simon Jewell Designs in Kent, and is available in a walnut or macassar ebony finish. Within every calendar sit 24 individually numbered 30ml drams of some of the world’s most sought-after whiskies, including expressions from long-closed distilleries, a 60 year old single malt and a whisky worth up to £19,000 a bottle.

Drinks by the Dram’s 2016 advent calendar range also includes calendars filled with single cask whiskies, mezcal, gin and more.